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Obama to Seek Line-Item Veto Power to Trim Spending From Bills

WASHINGTON — President Obama, in his latest effort to signal fiscal responsibility against the rising debt, plans this month to ask Congress to give him and future presidents greater power to try to delete individual items from spending bills.

In doing so, Mr. Obama will join a long line of his predecessors who have sought either line-item veto power or, after the Supreme Court in 1998 ruled such a veto unconstitutional, some other rescission authority that passes muster. Congress once again is unlikely to be receptive, though growing antidebt sentiment could give the proposal life.

Before Congress breaks for its Memorial Day recess, the White House will send it proposed legislation “to give the president a new tool to reduce unnecessary or wasteful spending,” according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Under existing law, a president can send Congress a request to rescind items in spending bills after a bill is signed into law, but if Congress does not approve the request within 45 working days, the money must be released. And Congress, traditionally protective of its constitutional power of the purse, usually ignores such presidential requests, killing them.

President George W. Bush did not propose any rescissions, according to the Congressional Research Service. Republicans in Congress have challenged Mr. Obama to do so, but he has not. Under Mr. Obama’s proposed legislation to expedite and strengthen the process in a president’s favor, Congress would have to vote on any rescissions.

A president would have 45 working days after signing a spending bill into law to submit to Congress items to rescind, the administration official said, and Congress would have 25 days to act. The House and Senate would have to vote the package up or down, without amendments.

“This new, enhanced rescission authority not only will empower the president and the Congress to eliminate unnecessary spending, but also discourage waste in the first place,” the official said.

A version of this article appears in print on May 7, 2010, on page A17 of the New York edition with the headline: Obama to Seek More Power To Trim Spending From Bills. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe